Description

This is the first international, cross-disciplinary book to explore and understand the lives of parents with intellectual disabilities, their children, and the systems and services they encounter. Contributors champion the rights of parents with intellectual disabilities, advocating their full participation in the society and culture in which they live, in spite of stigmatizing attitudes and exclusionary practices.

This authoritative book examines the very latest research and scholarship on the subject. Throughout the text, theory and research are linked to practice. The contributors provide a clear set of principles outlining how to work with parents with intellectual disabilities in ways that recognize family strengths and promote child and family well-being. Chapters are written by experts currently engaged either in academic study of the topic or as researcher-practitioners in the field of intellectual disabilities. Each one provides a brief overview of the development of ideas and literature pertinent to the chapter’s topic and concludes with principles drawn from the research to inform practice.

Written to reflect the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (United Nations, 2006), the book provides a crucial reference for students, practitioners and professionals engaged in this area.

About the Author

Gwynnyth Llewellyn is Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, and Director of the Australian Family and Disability Studies Research Collaboration. Professor Llewellyn's work led to the world's first national strategy to support parents with learning difficulties and promote a healthy start to life for their young children.

Rannveig Traustadóttir is Professor and Director of the Centre for Disability Studies in the School of Social Sciences, University of Iceland. She has been one of the leaders in developing Disability Studies as a scholarly field in the Nordic countries and is the former president of The Nordic Network on Disability Research.

David McConnell is Professor in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta. Professor McConnell has been conducting research in the field of parents and parenting with intellectual disabilities in Australia for over 15 years. He is now expanding his research program in Canada.

Hanna Björg Sigurjónsdóttir is an Assistant Professor at the University of Iceland. She has conducted collaborative research with parents with intellectual disabilities for 15 years. Together with Rannveig Traustadttir she has published Contested Families: Parents with Intellectual Disabilities and Their Children (1998) and Invisible Families: Mothers with Intellectual Disabilities and Their Children (2001).

""This excellent collection of essays begins from the human rights approach epitomised by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ... This collection challenges policy-makers to do more and better, and provides much of the evidence to underpin such improvements."" (Disability, Pregnancy & Parenthood International, 1 September 2011)

""Parents With Intellectual Disabilities: Past, Present and Futures is thought provoking worth reading for those working with families with intellectual disabilities."" (PsycCRITIQUES, February 2011)